Fiery Pen

Previously on… Father Death (7)

3

The morning bell split through the sunlight at Woodsboro High. Students loitered over the lawns and sidewalks, meandering into the entrances and clustering into conversation circles. Stu occupied himself by jumping on then off the metal railing climbing along the cement stairs. Billy leaned against the railing, his arms pinned across his stomach as he squinted at the crowd.

Billy caught sight of Sidney approaching from the parking lot with Tatum. She wore a short-sleeved shirt printed with small flowers and jeans, her backpack slung over one shoulder. Half of her hair was secured in a loose clip with her bangs left across her forehead and the rest of her hair brushing her shoulders. Billy’s heart seized at the sight of her. The customary flash of Maureen’s death mask flitted through his memory, but today, there was more. Today, the additional thrill of all that was coming tingled on his skin.

Stu launched from the railing and jogged across the grass to the girls. He seized Tatum around the waist. Despite her giggled protests, he dipped her back and planted a dramatic kiss on her mouth.

“Good morning, ladies,” Stu said as he bowed.

Stu moved his arm up around Tatum’s shoulders and drew her into him. Tatum’s blonde hair fluttered wild in the breeze. Her neon top clung suggestively to her figure.

Billy strode up beside Sidney. She offered him a gentle smile then leaned in to peck his lips. At the crinkle in her eyes, Billy saw her mother again. At her small grin, he saw the future they had planned for her. He wanted to grab her, take her right here on this lawn. Instead, he smiled back and took her hand softly in his.

Billy and Stu exchanged a conspiratorial look over the girls’ heads. A delirious smile consumed Stu’s face.

The group filed in through the front doors of the school and wandered down to their respective lockers. Tatum linked her arm through Sidney’s and escorted her away from Billy. Sidney cast her eyes back and smiled goodbye to Billy. Billy noted some plans for how Tatum would meet her end later.

Billy slouched against his closed locker. Stu reclined with him and gave him that same look, that look saturated with their plan. So many worthless classes and hours stretched out in front of them now, in the way of the next steps. They faced the day like children going to bed on Christmas Eve and trying to sleep.

“We should have cut today,” Stu mumbled.

“That would have been suspicious,” Billy answered.

“I don’t know how I’m going to focus.”

“You never focus,” Billy scoffed. “Fake it like every other day and keep running through tonight in your head.”

Stu nodded. The bell clattered through the hallway. They exchanged one more glance then broke off toward homeroom.

Stu stared at the back of Steven Orth from his desk. He had stared at Steve plenty of mornings since Casey, but this morning, he looked different. Stu could see all the blood pumping under his skin. He could see all the organs that could be dissected and removed. Every time Steve’s shoulders rose and fell with breath. Stu imagined stopping that motion.

The more he fantasized, the wider his grin grew.

“Mr. Macher, do you have anything to add to today’s news?” Mrs. Mays asked.

Stu startled, the smile sluffing from his cheeks. He turned his eyes to the teacher.

“No,” he said.

Giggles rippled along the class. Mrs. Mays blinked a little longer then resumed speaking. Stu did not bother to listen as he was already imagining how long it would take to remove Steve’s intestines with his hands.

During passing period, Billy waited in the hallway outside Sidney’s English class. He pressed one shoulder into the wall and crossed an ankle over the other. His empty backpack hung worthless from his shoulder. He had no use for books today. Each class was just motion, just playing along, just appearances.

The classroom door opened, and students filed out. Billy ignored the first anonymous faces, but he felt the flinch in his core when Casey breached the door frame. Casey clutched her books to her white sweater. She smiled wide as she giggled, her entire face crinkling sweetly. Her straight blonde hair curled around her earlobes. Stu did have a thing for blondes.

Seeing her face, Billy envisioned it twisting in fear like Maureen’s, screaming like Maureen did, bloodied like Maureen’s was. He plastered his memories over Casey’s present moment, and he nearly went hard.

Then Sidney stepped into the hallway, and he composed himself. He pushed up from the wall and offered her his hand. Sidney’s fingers slipped along his, and the heat of her skin enticed him more. His nerves blazed. The hair on his legs rose to rub against his jeans.

Sidney stopped at her locker and released Billy’s hand. When she opened the door, Billy pressed into her, guiding her face to his. He kissed her rougher than he intended and let his hand wander down her back and over her ass.

“Billy,” Sidney half-laughed, “what are you doing?”

Sidney pushed against Billy’s chest until he let her go. All the sensation in his body concentrated on her pressing him away. All that electricity reduced down to her rejection. Sidney grinned up at him, and he tucked his rage behind a guilty smile.

“You look beautiful today,” he said then clenched his teeth together hard enough to strain his jaw.

“Let me hit that,” Stu said, ducking under the bleachers.

“Shouldn’t you be running laps?” Randy answered in a plumed exhalation.

“Shouldn’t you be running laps?”

Stu gestured at Randy’s baggy gym shorts and stained tee. Randy looked down at Stu’s comparable apparel. Then both laughed, and Randy extended the joint to him. Stu pinched the joint in his slender fingertips and brought it to his puckered lips. He inhaled deep, his eyes going wide as he did, then held his breath until his sinuses tickled. Then he released smoke rings into the air above his head and marveled at them before returning the joint to Randy.

“Well done, sir.” Randy offered a golf clap before taking the joint.

“Now, this is what I call fitness.”

“Mental fitness is very important.” Randy sucked on the joint again and propped his head on the metal support as he released the smoke.

“Not going to catch me out there with the sheep today.” Stu reached for his turn.

“Your boy Billy doesn’t seem to have a problem with the flock.” Randy looked through the bleachers and jutted his chin at Billy, rounding the track in front of them.

Stu shrugged and sucked hard on the end of the joint. “Maybe he has things to run off,” he said in smoky words.

“Daddy issues.”

“Maybe that’s why Sidney picked him.”

Stu shot Randy a fierce look then burst into giggles. Randy joined him, and the laughter accelerated until Mr. Lambert’s ears pricked, and he whirled in the direction of the bleachers. Randy and Stu plastered their hands over their mouths and cowered in the shadows.

Billy unfurled himself along the grass. He tucked his hands under his head and allowed the sun to bake down on his closed eyes. Stu sat beside him, picking blades of grass and chucking them down the hill. The sounds of clashing pads, grunts, and shouts wafted up from the football field at the bottom of the hill.

“Bunch of butt-fucking jackasses,” Stu mused, squinting into the lowering sun.

“Casey left you for all that.” Billy grinned but kept his eyes closed.

Stu turned to him. “Ouch, man. Ouch.”

Billy eased up on his elbows and winked into the glaring light. He regarded the football team first, the anonymous jerseys circling over the striped turf in pointless patterns, then offered Stu a promising smirk.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” he said. “You get to show her tonight. We get to show all of them.”

Whistles screeched, and the team broke their lines to huddle in a massive, teeming circle. Billy and Stu took the cue and rose to their feet. The team throbbed as an organism below. The helmets clustered together as the boys placed their hands on each other’s padded backs. They bounced in a mass from one side to the other. Their grunts started staggered and unsynchronized then harmonized into one chanting voice.

Simultaneously, Billy and Stu burst out laughing. Billy lifted the back of his hand to shield his mouth. Stu hunched around imaginary teammates and bounced in a rhythm with the team.

“Hoo!” he shouted, slapping Billy’s shoulder. “Hoo! Are you ready?” He smacked Billy’s shoulder again. “Are you READY?”

Billy smirked and turned toward the team. “I’m ready.”

Billy and Stu walked side by side down the hill toward the team.

“Hey, Steve! Hey, man! Steve, over here,” Stu shouted from the hood of Billy’s car. He waved his hands over his head.

Steve rolled his eyes hard on an exhale and shouldered his duffle.

“Steeeeve, I know you see me, man.” Stu slid from the hood onto his feet.

Steve looked at the asphalt before turning towards Billy’s car.

“Look, I told you, Macher,” Steve said, punctuating his words with his hand. “Casey is with me now. She has been for a while. So, you can just fuck yourself.”

“That’s what I need to talk to you about. Casey, not the fucking myself,” Stu laughed.

“What about Casey?”

As Steve approached the car, Billy eased from the driver’s seat.

“Loomis, what the fuck are you doing here?” Steve hesitated, shifting his weight back on his heels.

Stu could not contain the grin. He tipped his chin down, but it spread up his face and crept toward his gleaming eyes. Billy allowed the metal pipe to slide down the back of his arm and into his hand as he waited to see what Steve would do. Steve shifted his eyes from Stu to Billy and back, his shoulder rising towards his ears.

“Relax, Steve, I just want to tell you.” Stu offered his palms.

“Tell me what?” Steve took a step forward.

Stu’s grin split wider as he leaned in to meet Steve. Billy lunged forward and struck Steve in the side of the head with the pipe. Steve collapsed in a heap to the pavement. Stu scanned the parking lot as he slung Steve’s bag over his shoulder. Billy shoved the pipe in his back pocket. The two quickly gathered Steve’s limp body and dragged him to the back door, shoving him through.

Billy started the engine, and Stu dropped into the passenger’s seat.

“We have a date for movie trivia with Casey,” Stu laughed.

Continued on… Father Death (9)

Christina Bergling

https://linktr.ee/chrstnabergling

Like my writing? Check out my books!

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• Horror Anthologies